Several publications are referenced in this application by numerals in parenthesis in order to more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains. Full citations for these references are found at the end of the specification. The disclosure of each of these publications is incorporated by reference herein.
Adenosine is released in large amounts during myocardial ischemia and can mediate potentially A important protective functions in the cardiovascular system (1,4,5,7,9,14, 17,18,19,25). Previous studies have shown that adenosine receptor agonists can precondition the heart when given before the onset of ischemia (4,5,9,14,17,18) and can cause reduction in infarct size or improvement in left ventricular function when given during reperfusion (1,19) or during both low-flow ischemia and reperfusion in isolated perfused heart (6,21,22). While activation of adenosine A1 and A3 receptors has been shown to mimic the cardioprotective effect of preconditioning (3,10,23,24), their roles in mediating the protective effect of adenosine administered during ischemia have not yet been fully elucidated. Further, the cardioprotective effect of exogenous adenosine infused during ischemia in the intact heart may be exerted at the level of coronary vasculature, circulating neutrophils, or cardiac myocytes.
Our previous studies have characterized a cardiac myocyte model of injury, which is induced by exposure of myocytes to prolonged hypoxia in glucose-free media (16,23). Use of this model has facilitated the identification of compounds that enhance the protective effects of preconditioning and also increase myocardial resistance to ischemia.